Reigning French champion Bastien Blanqué was on the microphone of Lorenzo Lecci Lopez on Tuesday, ahead of today's crucial day in Dubai.

Padel Magazine : How do you find the conditions here in Dubai?

Bastien Blanqué : The conditions are great, there is a central field which is just huge, and six tracks nearby. We are in the complex where the ATP and WTA tennis tournament takes place every year. We are well received, the hotel is magical, we have a great French team this year. There are people in the stands, it's nice. All nations are progressing. In short, it is a very beautiful sporting event. 

PM: You are in good shape at the moment with Thomas Leygue. How do you analyze this start of the Mondial for your pair?

BB : Coach Pablo Ayma trusts us following the French championship. He made us play together by focusing on us as the strong point of the team. This is what we have done so far by winning our matches and we will try to continue if we play together tomorrow [Editor's note: this Wednesday].

PM: How are you physically for a day with two games to play, in very hot weather?

BB : Well, we have no choice, we have to play in the morning in very tough conditions because it's 30 or 35 degrees from 10 a.m., so it's very complicated to play. The idea is to waste as little energy as possible, while being serious and winning against Qatar [Editor's note: France won 3/0].

Then, we will immediately go to rest to play in the evening in very different conditions. In the evening, it's much slower, you type a lot less, the stitches are longer. But at least there's a bit of air and it's ten degrees cooler: these are perfect conditions for playing. But we know that it will be war against a very good team from Paraguay this year. We had beaten them at the Worlds last year in pool, 2/1. And this year again you have to win to get a quarter-final against a second group.

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After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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